18" Thickness sander build

[nicky]

For many years I had wanted a thickness sander. So I started collecting material for it over the years. Last winter I set out to build one. I got a fine sanding belt 18" x 48" for the feed, I believe it was from Grizzly Tools. I had an 18" x 4" velcro drum made by Stockroom Supply. These form the heart of the machine. I first tried welding 4 nuts for the 3/4" screws to plates but it seemed to be impossible to get them to line up so you could get smooth elevation. So finally I went rooting through my workbench drawers and found a piece of UHMW about.1 1/2" x 1 1/4" and about 18" long. I cut it in half and clamped them on top of each other and drilled the holes for3/4" course thread in my small vertical mill/drill This way the holes were guaranteed to be parallel And that worked out perfect, besides UHMW is self lubricating. The motor is 1 1/2 HP running on 220 Volt which keeps it purring. The feed belt is powered by a 12 Volt DC geared motor 1/2HP and has a gear box output of 15 RPM. I found that motor on E-Bay at a very reasonable price and brand new. The 12V power pack was from an old tent trailer. Basically a transformer with a 4 diode bridge. The rest is all standard materials.

 

[Dave Smith]

is your sanding belt for just driving the product and you have rough sanding paper wrapped on the upper roller? if not then how do you change your sanding belt? confused---Dave

 

[DavidR8]

Nice work!

 

[nicky]

is your sanding belt for just driving the product and you have rough sanding paper wrapped on the upper roller? if not then how do you change your sanding belt? confused---Dave

Dave
The sanding belt is a very fine grit and is used as the feed just like in many of the commercial machines. The drum is wrapped with what ever grit you want to use. I keep 80 grit on it all the time. This gives me a suitable finish before final use of the wood. The drum being wrapped with Velcro makes it for quick changing of the paper.

 

[Dave Smith]

nicky,
thanks, I understand now. your sanding belt must be a good quality cloth backed belt to hold up good. most of the timesaver drive belts I have used are a tough rubber enforced type material. I didn't know you could buy rolls of velcro to wrap on drums, and special hook and loop backed rolls of sandpaper. I just coated my 5" wide by 18" drum with adhesive and then rolled on the cloth backed sandpaper. I will have to order some velcro rolls to coat some extra drums I have.
Dave